Brian France puts NASCAR in crosshairs with Trump endorsement

On the eve of Super Tuesday 7,500 people jammed into a basketball arena on the campus of Valdosta State, down deep in South Georgia. And then out came Donald Trump, out amid the waving signs and recording cell phones, and after rolling through his latest poll numbers, he said he was ready with a special, surprise announcement.

"Do we love NASCAR?" Trump asked.

The crowd loved NASCAR and so here came "NASCAR" or at least enough of it to throw the sport smack dab in the middle of a contentious Republican primary, reversing course from last summer and rankling Marcus Lemonis, a high-level executive who, like the Donald himself, is a highly successful entrepreneur who stars on a reality television show.

In the process, NASCAR, and sports in general, were reminded of the dangers of wading into impassioned waters of the political world, where supporting anyone is sure to anger someone. That included Lemonis, who on Monday led the charge for fans who'd prefer their sports league stays neutral, if only because this might actually matter.

"If the people that like and watch NASCAR vote for Donald Trump, they can cancel the election right now," Trump noted. "Nobody [else] can win."

Trump may be correct, at least with Tuesday's voting taking place across parts of the sport's traditional southern base. It's why Trump was so excited to bring out his latest endorsements.

It started with Brian France, NASCAR's CEO. This one was significant. France doesn't just run NASCAR, his family is synonymous with the sport since his grandfather Bill Sr. helped found it in 1948 in Daytona Beach, Fla. While NASCAR later noted that the endorsement was a "private, personal decision by Brian" and not an official proclamation, it's almost impossible to separate the two. Any limitations to the support were not apparent at the nationally televised rally.

"You know about his winning, and business and success," France said to the crowd, before noting Trump's personal life. "He wins with his family. Any of his children, you'd be proud of having them as part of your family. That's how I judge a winner, how somebody manages their family and raises their family."

It was enough for Trump to consider this an endorsement from the entire "NASCAR brand," as he later put it in a statement from his campaign. While that may not be technically correct, you can hardly blame him. France didn't come alone; he arrived with four current or retired Sprint Cup drivers.

That included Hall of Famer Bill Elliott, 60, a former Cup Champion and two-time Daytona 500 champion. Fans voted him NASCAR's most popular driver a record 16 times, annually besting legends such as Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt Sr. Elliott was joined by his son, Chase, 20, a promising rookie who is considered NASCAR's next big star.

In the theory of all-politics-are-local, the Elliotts are legends in and around Dawsonville, Ga., a small town in the heavily Republican northern part of the state. Georgia is, not coincidentally, the second biggest delegate prize on Tuesday.

Also there to praise Trump were current drivers David Ragan, a native of Unadilla in South Georgia, and Ryan Newman, a Daytona 500 champion from Indiana.

"This is a great man," Chase Elliott said of Trump. "I think he's a guy who can do some great things for us."

Trump beamed.

"They are endorsing Donald Trump," he said. "Can you believe this? Can you believe this?"

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A lot of people couldn't believe it, if only because for NASCAR, this was a notable change of course.

Last July, the leage pulled two award ceremonies out of Trump National Doral, the Trump-owned golf resort in Miami. It came in reaction to Trump's comments about Mexican immigrants that the racing circuit deemed inappropriate.

"We made the decision we are not going to Doral National," NASCAR spokesman David Higdon said at the time in a news conference to discuss the moving of 2015 banquets for the Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series.

The decision was spurred by the objections of Lemonis, the Lebanese-born CEO of Camping World, title sponsor of NASCAR's Truck Series. Lemonis also stars in the reality show, "The Profit." He dubbed Trump's remarks as "blatantly bigoted and racist."

Trump bristled at the decision and mocked NASCAR by saying he was keeping its "very substantial deposit" held for the banquets and then booking the facility for another company and making double the money. "A win," he said.

That July decision was a different kind of political statement, making a big deal about what was essentially a small deal – canceling a couple of banquets. There was backlash to that also. Trump's poll numbers are high because plenty of people agree with him.

NASCAR was bashed for being politically correct, while others saw it as a reasonable and appropriate decision. Now many in the latter group are criticizing France for supporting Trump, who generates intense dislike from many, while many of the former think endorsing him makes perfect sense.

Back and forth and back it goes, forever and ever.

It's why so many people in sports, particularly teams and leagues, try to avoid the entire thing, heeding the old words of Michael Jordan.

In 1992, Jordan, then a star with the Chicago Bulls and a prominent Nike spokesperson, declined to support a North Carolina Democratic Senate candidate, stating "Republicans buy shoes too." By 2012, however, as an owner of the Charlotte Hornets and head of the Jordan Brand, he apparently was no longer so concerned. He was a co-headliner for a fundraiser for the re-election of President Barack Obama.

Lemonis, for one, appears to believe NASCAR should have stayed on the sidelines. If nothing else, the decision by France to so prominently support Trump (individually or not) just months after the Lemonis-led banquet boycott, was a significant moment.

"There is no place for politics/any political endorsements in any business," tweeted Lemonis, whose company is paying a reported $35 million over seven years to sponsor the Truck Series. "Your customers and employees should have their own mind. #period"

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The visual of a sports commissioner, surrounded by current and former athletes, endorsing a presidential candidate in such an important moment was significant and unusual. Sports entering into the political stage are not, however.

NFL owners, all of whom are prominent businessmen, donated millions to presidential candidates according to the most recent federal filings, per OpenSecrets.org. Some have offered endorsements or even more – Jets owner Woody Johnson, for example, was a national finance chairman for the now-suspended campaign of Jeb Bush.

Meanwhile, athletes routinely get involved in political discourse on all parts of the political spectrum. Many of them, however, play for teams and are less brand and sponsor dependent as drivers in NASCAR, a sport wholly dependent on corporate sponsorships.

If anything, what made this foray into politics feel different was that France offered a sense that this was an official NASCAR stance, even if it wasn't exactly that. It may be easier for a fan to come to terms with an individual athlete supporting someone they don't support. They are citizens and have every right to be involved in the political process at whatever level they see fit. Everyone has family members or friends who don't vote in lockstep.

It's a bit different when it's a team in particular or the league as a whole. It feels bigger and broader. During the endorsement, there was no nuance given about France's presence. Trump kept talking about NASCAR as a whole – a positive for some, a negative for others. If they'd been standing behind Ted Cruz or Hillary Clinton or John Kasich, it would have been the same, at least to some degree.

That's what comes with stepping out for someone, anyone, the chips falling where they fall.

And that's why for many, it's too much.

Not on Monday though. Not at Valdosta. Not with parts of NASCAR.

The circuit that went officially anti-Trump last summer went unofficially pro-Trump just hours before the biggest day of the campaign to date, leaving a confused and upset sponsor and a smiling presidential candidate.

"I love NASCAR," Trump said.

It was a reversal of fortune no one quite saw coming.